What’s a few more days waiting for a mission years in the making? NASA’s first giant step toward returning humans to the moon could now take place on November 14. On Wednesday, the space agency announced a new set of potential launch dates for its unmanned spacecraft Artemis I mission around the moon.
NASA will return Artemis I back to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as early as November 4. A Nov. 14 attempt would mean a nighttime launch with a 69-minute window opening at 12:07 a.m. ET (9:07 p.m. PT on Nov. 13).
Artemis I includes an unmanned Orion capsule that travels to space on a powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The entire kit and caboodle have been out on the launch pad several times and have encountered a series of wet dress rehearsals designed to simulate launch conditions.
It looked like Artemis I had a chance to get off that cliff in August or September, but some technical issues followed by the arrival of Hurricane Ian meant it had to be back into its large garage for storm storage. NASA said checks showed the rocket was almost ready to move again.
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“Teams will perform standard maintenance to repair minor foam and cork damage to the thermal protection system and recharge or replace the rocket’s batteries, several secondary payloads, and the flight termination system,” NASA said.
The date November 14th is not set in stone. A successful launch will depend on good timing and good behavior of the rocket systems. NASA has already requested backup launch options for Nov. 16 and Nov. 19 in case the earlier date doesn’t work out.
If Artemis I lifts off as planned on Nov. 14, it will spend just over 25 days on its mission to walk around our lunar neighbor, testing Orion’s worthiness to carry human passengers for Artemis II. That would put it on track to return to Earth for a Dec. 9 landing.
NASA no doubt hopes that this attempt will be the one that finally succeeds and ushers in the Artemis era in earnest.